YRC's finances on rough road

The coming days are crucial for YRC Worldwide as the trucking company, which employs about 550 at a hub in Maybrook, fights for survival.

The Associated Press

The coming days are crucial for YRC Worldwide as the trucking company, which employs about 550 at a hub in Maybrook, fights for survival.

An industry analyst said Wednesday that YRC could close its doors as early as this weekend despite its effort to complete a critical debt-to-stock offer.

If YRC does not complete the bond exchange, the company's last chance to avoid bankruptcy is a waiver from its lenders, according to Stifel Nicolaus analyst David Ross. If that doesn't happen, the company could file bankruptcy and close as early as this weekend, Ross said.

Company spokeswoman Suzanne Dawson rejected that assumption.

"The company will be open for business as usual on Monday," Dawson said.

But YRC said in a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that if it is unable to address its short-term cash needs, the company expects to seek relief in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

YRC has extended its swap offer to bondholders six times. After the most recent extension, it was set to expire at the end of the day Wednesday.

The company said it made progress in its push to get debt holders to swap their bonds for equity, though it still doesn't have enough.

And time is running out. YRC needs to make a $19 million interest and fee payment on Thursday. The company said earlier this month that if it didn't have access to some extra cash by Dec. 31, its "liquidity position would become unsustainable."

The company, which is based in Overland Park, Kan., has been hamstrung by the recession and an unmanageable debt load. Earlier this year, employees agreed to a second round of pay cuts and other concessions.

Times Herald-Record reporter Michael Levensohn contributed to this story.

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